The Ship of State: Statecraft and Politics from Ancient Greece to Democratic America

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Yale University Press, Oct 1, 2008 - Political Science - 256 pages
This provocative and illuminating book provides a new perspective on the development of political thought from Homer to Machiavelli, Tocqueville, and Gertrude Stein (who is introduced here, for the first time, as a writer of political significance). Providing nuanced readings of key texts by these and other thinkers, Norma Thompson locates a powerful theme: that the political health of organized political communities—from the ancient polis to the modern state to contemporary democracy—requires a balance between masculine and feminine qualities.
Although most critics view the Western tradition as a progression away from misogyny and toward rights for women, Thompson contends that the need for balance in the political community was well understood in earlier eras. Only now has it been almost entirely overlooked in our focus on surface indications of strict gender equality. Thompson argues that political rhetoric must once again promote the reconciliation of masculine and feminine forces in order to achieve effective politics and statecraft.

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Contents

Introduction
1
PART 1 The Polis
9
PART 2 The State
71
PART 3 Democratic America
121
Redressing the Balance
158
The Political Metaphor and Its Fate
167
Notes
175
Bibliography
209
Index
237
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About the author (2008)

Norma Thompson is associate professor of political science at Yale University.

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